- News
- World
- Europe
open image in galleryA satellite image shows smoke rising in a residential area amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, November 3, 2025 (via REUTERS)
On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents
Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents
Get a weekly international news dispatch
Email*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
Russian forces have surrounded the embattled Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and control 70 per cent of it, President Vladimir Putin claimed on Thursday, though Kyiv's top general insisted Ukrainian defenders were pushing back hard amid fierce fighting in the city centre.
Moscow has sought full control of Pokrovsk – known to Russians by its Soviet-era name, Krasnoarmeysk – since mid-2024, as part of its broader objective to seize the entire Donbas industrial region.
Instead of a direct frontal assault on the city, a former home to over 60,000 and a key Ukrainian military logistics hub, Russian forces have employed a pincer movement. This tactic aims to steadily encircle Pokrovsk, infiltrating with small and then larger assault groups.
Moscow says taking Pokrovsk, dubbed "the gateway to Donetsk" by Russian media, would give it a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Donetsk region - Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
open image in galleryA Ukrainian soldier walks past damaged buildings in central Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel, File) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)Pressure on the city comes at a time when the United States is trying to broker a possible peace plan to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two with both sides eager to show they have the upper hand on the battlefield.
Map of Pokrovsk:
Speaking at a news conference in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, Putin said that Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk and the neighbouring town of Myrnohrad, which Russians calls Dimitrov, were in deep trouble and that Ukraine might face a collapse of its frontline in certain places.
"Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) and Dimitrov (Myrnohrad) are completely surrounded," Putin told reporters, saying that some of Kyiv's most combat-ready troops were being destroyed in the process.
"Seventy percent of Krasnoarmeysk's territory is in the hands of the Russian armed forces. In the south of the city of Dimitrov, the enemy group has been cut off. It is scattered throughout the city. And our troops are moving onto its systematic destruction," said Putin.
The Russian Defence Ministry said earlier on Thursday that its assault units were advancing in central and northern Pokrovsk and that its forces had advanced to the east, west and south of Myrnohrad.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's top commander, painted a different picture however, and said on social media that Ukrainian troops had been blocking attempts by Russian forces to stage new assaults on Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
open image in galleryA satellite image shows armored vehicles amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, November 3, 2025 (via REUTERS)Syrskyi said that Russia had been forced to bring reserves forces into the area.
Ukraine's Operational Task Force "East" said separately that its troops had also been staging raids south of Pokrovsk's train station and that fighting was raging in the city centre.
Reuters could not independently verify the contrasting battlefield claims and maps from both sides contradicted each other too.
Russian maps show Pokrovsk under Moscow's control and Ukrainian troops encircled in neighbouring Myrnohrad. Ukrainian maps show Pokrovsk as a grey zone under no side's control and Myrnohrad as not being fully surrounded.
More about
Pokrovsk Vladimir PutinJoin our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments
